Laxity on the part of the city police claimed the life of a five-year-old girl in Bhopal after the Shahjahanabad police failed to act swiftly on a missing person’s complaint, despite standing recommendations from the High Court.
Long-standing court instructions to successive Chief Ministers over the decades have mandated the highest priority for police responses to complaints involving women and children. Yet, time and again, inaction on the part of police officials has proved fatal for the victims.
While police officials claim that the law enforcement apparatus swings into action within minutes of receiving a complaint, in the case this girl, the police did not conduct a thorough investigation despite reaching her locality promptly.
The sniffer dog requisitioned by Shahjahanabad police led investigators to the same flat from where the body has now been recovered, but the police did not take further action as the house was locked at the time.
If due seriousness had been accorded to the matter, the police could have had the door opened or broken it down in front of local residents.
The post-mortem report will determine if the girl was already dead at that time, but the police inaction seems unconvincing, especially as the state capital is grappling with a series of heinous crimes against young girls.
On Wednesday, police officials claimed that more than a hundred personnel were searching for the missing girl; however, it is surprising that they could not reach the flat where her body was recovered.
The post-mortem report is still awaited, and the cause of death is yet to be ascertained.
The police have arrested three individuals, including two women and a 21-year-old youth, in connection with the suspected murder. The suspects are yet to be interrogated, leaving the girl's family without closure as questions and doubts loom over the motive and circumstances surrounding her death.
Notably, the police commissioner system was implemented in Bhopal and Indore in December 2021. In its first year, the police claimed success in both cities as heinous crimes reportedly declined. However, the situation has worsened in 2023 and 2024.
Official sources indicate a record surge in crimes against women and children. Before the commissioner system was implemented, 330 incidents of rape were reported in Bhopal in 2021. This number rose to 456 in 2022 and further increased to 523 in 2023; within the first eight months of 2024, the count has reached 381.While this particular incident cannot solely be termed a failure of law and order, the rising crimes against women and children reflect sheer negligence and laxity on the part of the police.
